Why do we need to think about poverty and social exclusion?

This chapter explores poverty and social exclusion, and examines the reasons why people are concerned about those children and families who experience their effects. It also explores the rationale for intervention in terms of outcomes for children and families who have experienced poverty and the perceived broader impact on society. The chapter considers the scale of poverty and social exclusion in our society and how emerging social attitudes have affected the position of those in poverty. It illustrates how children and families who experience poverty and social exclusion are perceived and how these dominant ideas affect attitudes and subsequently interventions designed to address these social problems. Poverty and social exclusion are a consequence of 'structural' inequalities that arise from the way in which society is organised, and in the context of a capitalist system which favours those with existing wealth and power.